Li Sanjiang took a seat first and began to speak with them.
This type of employer is actually the easiest to deal with, as they will spill everything like pouring beans, and then you just follow their desired path and act accordingly.
anwhile, Li Zhiyuan was searching for Niu Fu in the house, and after checking several rooms without finding him, he started to suspect that Niu Fu no longer lived there.
After leaving the main house and reaching the nearby woodshed, Li Zhiyuan finally found Niu Fu.
Initially, he imagined Niu Fu lying in bed, completely immobilized and neglected...
But he had overestimated the filial piety of Niu Fu’s children.
Niu Fu, crippled from a fall and paralyzed from the waist down, didn’t even have a bed; he was placed directly in the woodshed.
The stack of dry hay beneath him was his bed, with stacked firewood on the left and a pile of clutter on the right.
Next to him were two bowls; one with relatively clean water and the other dirty, layered with gri, presumably for holding food.
As for Niu Fu’s clothing, he was bare-chested without any clothes, and his dirty shorts were almost crusted to his body, slling foul.
Indeed, if his children weren’t even willing to provide him with a bed, they were certainly not going to bother bathing him or changing his clothes.
Li Zhiyuan covered his nose with his hand and moved a bit closer.
The last ti he saw Niu Fu, although stooped, he was otherwise robust, being only fifty years old, an age that in rural areas still categorized him as "able-bodied labor."
But now, Niu Fu was much too thin, his mouth agape, constantly mumbling—unclear whether he was trying to speak or it was just an uncontrollable reaction.
When Li Zhiyuan entered, Niu Fu did turn his head slightly to glance at him then turned back, his gaze lifelessly fixed on the ceiling.
After watching for a while, Li Zhiyuan stepped out of the woodshed, deeply breathing the fresh air outside.
"ow."
A cat’s ow sounded; an ugly, disabled black cat stepped along the wall nearby.
It looked at Li Zhiyuan and then licked its paw.
"Don’t you think it’s too quiet?"
The black cat’s paw-licking halted.
"Everyone acts as if the others don’t exist, lacking interaction. Make so noise tonight, stir up the conflict a bit more."
"ow..."
This ti, a tremble was in the cat’s ow.
Li Sanjiang began performing a ritual in the yard; with the two sons who didn’t even have ti to wash their own father’s dishes, now kneeling at the altar with their wives, utterly devout.
After the ritual, Li Sanjiang tapped their shoulders with the Peach Wood Sword, reassuringly saying:
"Don’t worry, what sins your own father committed, you know best. So debts are settled by the elders and won’t affect you; just keep your minds at ease.
If you think the bad luck hasn’t fully passed, there’s a way, you can shift the remaining misfortune to other close relatives, but rember, you must keep absolutely quiet about this; otherwise, you won’t even be able to remain relatives."
"Shift it, shift it, we’ll shift it, Grandmaster, please help us shift it!"
"Forget it, let’s not do it; it’s too harmful and would ruin my Daoist virtues."
Li Sanjiang started playing hard to get, and when another red envelope was handed over, he sighed,
"Well, since it’s co to this, I’ll help you shift the bad luck, but rember, you must keep this a tight secret."
"Grandmaster, rest assured, we understand, we understand."
Li Sanjiang perford another ritual for them and then announced:
"Done, the remaining bad luck has been shifted to the hos of the second and third sons."
Under the grateful thanks of Niu Laoda’s family, Li Sanjiang left with Li Zhiyuan and Run Sheng.
While riding in the cart to Niu Rui’s house, Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Grandmaster, I thought you would preach to them."
"Preach to them? Ha, your Grandmaster didn’t lose his mind. Is there really any need to preach to those who need to be told to support their parents?
Rather, ask for more money, so your Grandmaster can buy more pork head at and wine.
I just hope nothing else goes wrong with the Niu family; if it happens again, it won’t be easy for your Grandmaster to handle, really fearing the ruin of my reputation."
"Wasn’t the Corpse already dealt with by you?"
"Yes, right."
Li Zhiyuan knew indeed that there would be no more trouble; once the three children had endured their fate, Old Mrs. Niu would also dissipate by herself.
As they neared Niu Rui’s house, they saw him crouching on the dam brewing dicine on a small stove, while his children sarcastically chided that the dicine was not only costly but also ineffective, never healing his condition.
Niu Rui, who had killed a man in his youth albeit wiped clean by his mother, Old Mrs. Niu, still had a violent temper.
Unable to restrain himself, he stood up and slapped his daughter-in-law who was holding a child.
His son roared and attacked Niu Rui, and they ended up fighting on the ground, indistinguishable in the scuffle.
Though Niu Rui had a strange illness, he was just managing it and could still physically contend with his son for a while.
Seeing this, Niu Rui’s wife scread and started scratching his face, cursing him for being good for nothing, criticizing him for wasting family money on dicine in his old age and daring to strike his own prized son.
The crying of the child, the sounds of the scuffle, and the shouting all blended together, as if a symphony was perford on the dam.
By the ti Li Sanjiang arrived, they finally cald down, and then the whole family, with bruised and swollen faces, all put on sycophantic smiles.
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